Office of the Historian

File No. 763.72112/48a

The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Great Britain (Page)1

Department of State,
Washington, August 6, 1914, 1. p.m.

[Telegram]

You are instructed to inquire of the British Government whether they are willing to agree that the laws of naval warfare laid down by the Declaration of London, 1909, shall be applicable to naval warfare during the, present European conflict, provided that the governments with whom Great Britain is or may be at war also agree to such application. You will further state that this Government believes that acceptance of these laws by the belligerents would prevent grave misunderstandings which may arise as to the relations between belligerent and neutral powers. It, therefore, earnestly hopes that this inquiry may receive favorable consideration.

Bryan
  1. The same, mutatis mutandis, to the Ambassadors in Russia, France, Germany, and Austria-Hungary, and the Minister in Belgium.↩